Li Banfeng looked at the father and daughter and asked, "Are you telling the truth?"
Qin Bulou said, "The people left at North Bridge are all born and bred Loess Bridge folks. If Seventh Master doesn’t believe this, you can verify it one by one. No matter how well a lie is crafted, it will definitely reveal flaws after passing through many mouths.
"I am also willing to establish a Contract Book. If there’s even half a lie, I’m willing to accept punishment."
"The Contract Book must certainly be established," Li Banfeng said, pulling out a Contract Paper. "I can manage the territory of Loess Bridge, but the profits from its operations must be under my control."
Qin Bulou nodded. "That’s natural. We only ask that Seventh Master also leaves us natives enough to get by."
"Rest assured about that; I won’t let you suffer a loss. But besides this, you still have to agree to three things from me. The first, and most urgent, is that the Inner State has always wanted a piece of Proper Land. Now that the Coachman is gone, the Inner State might take advantage of the vacuum to intrude. Loess Bridge is the territory of Puluo State and must never be handed over to the Inner State."
Upon hearing this, Qin Bulou said, "Seventh Master, to tell you the truth, my cultivation level reached the Tenth Layer long ago. If I wanted to advance, I could simply leave my physical body and go to the Inner State.
"But my knees are just too stiff to bend. As long as I am alive, I will never bow to the Inner State!"
Li Banfeng recorded this point in the Contract Book and then continued, "Second, you managed to send all those people from North Bridge to the train station and even got them Guide Tokens. This proves you have some connection with the Border Defense Envoy.
"Managing a business inevitably involves interactions with Outside Provinces, but when it comes to significant matters, you must clearly distinguish between internal and external loyalties."
Qin Bulou nodded. "North Bridge has its rules. I will let Seventh Master review them later. All dealings with the Defense Agency are within the bounds of these rules. If there are any improprieties, I hope Seventh Master will point them out."
Li Banfeng said, "Third, you must tell me about your New Taoist Sect."
Qin Bulou was stunned, and Xiao Qin, at his side, bit her lip. She hadn’t expected Li Banfeng to guess that her father was creating a New Taoist Sect.
Li Banfeng knew this made them uncomfortable, but if they wanted to cooperate, this matter had to be clarified. "The New Taoist Sect is your original creation and also relates to your cultivation level. By rights, I shouldn’t ask.
"But your sect is too strange. If we develop a grudge in the future, I fear I will suffer a great loss, so I must take some precautions."
After a long silence, Qin Bulou finally spoke the truth. "Indeed, I am creating a Taoist Sect. The core of this sect is related to the thing I have done most since I began my cultivation."
Li Banfeng thought for a moment. "Since you’re an Arithmetic Cultivator, the thing you’ve done most naturally involves calculations."
Qin Bulou asked, "Is the purpose of calculation to make mistakes or to get things right?"
Li Banfeng thought.
"Calculations are naturally for getting things right."
Qin Bulou gave a bitter smile. "But most of what I’ve done in my life involves making mistakes. For any given problem, I might get it wrong ten times and still not arrive at the correct solution even once."
Li Banfeng was stunned for a moment. Actually, this situation was quite normal.
Qin Bulou sighed. "Being an Arithmetic Cultivator is really not easy. I’ve been tormented by mathematics all my life.
"From the basics when I first started, I kept making mistakes. Even at my age, when tackling difficult problems, I still make constant errors.
"Mistakes follow me like a shadow. Usually, an error is just an error. But at a critical moment of life and death, one mistake can be fatal. Sometimes the fear even jolts me awake from my dreams.
"Later, I thought, since getting things right is hard and making mistakes is much easier, why not cultivate based on making mistakes?
"It sounds absurd, but I actually did it. I deliberately made mistakes to see what would happen. I wondered what kind of changes would occur if I piled error upon error.
"Intentionally making mistakes seemed like mocking mathematics, which goes against the principles of a Taoist Sect, but it turned out to be quite satisfying!
"As time went on, my cultivation level as an Arithmetic Cultivator didn’t improve, but another kind of cultivation level began to take shape."
"Hold on!" Li Banfeng raised his hand. "You can gain cultivation level from making mistakes?"
"Yes!" Qin Bulou said, very proud. "Seventh Master, the first time you transported goods and found the train tracks broken, didn’t you wonder why the repaired tracks broke again?"
Li Banfeng recalled the incident; indeed, he hadn’t thought much about it at the time. "The old railway has been abandoned for so many years. It’s reasonable for it to break after being repaired, and for repairs to follow breaks, isn’t it?"
Qin Bulou replied, "Mistakes often occur within the bounds of what seems reasonable. You thought it was reasonable, and the railway workers also thought it was reasonable. As vigilance against mistakes diminishes, more opportunities arise for my New Taoist Sect.
"The reason the tracks broke wasn’t due to my tampering afterward; it was because of the workers’ negligence during repairs. An empty car might have passed without issue, but when a coal-loaded train went over them, the tracks couldn’t bear the load and broke on the spot.
"After the train overturned, everyone panicked and rushed to find help, but no one stayed to guard the site. This was one mistake piled upon another. While everyone was dealing with the tracks, I took the opportunity to steal the coal.
"The second time you transported goods, I used the same method. Your workers made another mistake while repairing the train. They were accustomed to making errors and weren’t on guard. The train was plagued with faults throughout the journey. They rushed to repair it and rushed to get it moving, never stopping to consider the underlying reasons.
"I took advantage of this very opportunity to steal both the train cars and the coal."
Li Banfeng re-evaluated the entire process and asked, "Causing people to make mistakes, and then causing them to compound those mistakes—are these your two Techniques?"